Off on an adventure

Saturday, January 18, 2014

I generally make my decisions by myself. That's among the luxuries of being single. But when I consider something major, I consult my friends and family.

Technology is such that I can now do that via text message, so when I queried my confidantes about my latest possible change, here's the responses I got:

"Well obviously you should then."

"You'd be stupid not to do that."

"That's pretty cool and exciting."

"Your dumb if you don't go."

(My friends aren't all concerned about grammatical irony in their texts.)

"It'd be a sweet adventure, that's for sure."

"I guess if any of my friends decided to up and mice to Guam, I would expect it to be you."

(Autocorrect is awesome)

So by (nearly) universal agreement, I'm going to be moving to Guam to become the sports writer for the Pacific Daily News.

This is a mostly ridiculous decision but it makes sense for me. I like adventure, and this is, as my friend said, definitely that.

It's not entirely out of character. Though I've been relatively conservative with my decision making lately, I'm not averse to risks and change.

After the PDN editor called one of my reference, Dani, she sent me this text as soon as she got off the phone:

"When the lady said where she was calling from I was shocked. But then when she said who the reference was for, I thought, 'Oh. Ok, I can see that.' J"

Guam is very far from Putnam County and the sports culture is surely very different. I love the passion for sports the Banner Graphic readers have, and I'm sure it will be an adjustment in Guam, but the opportunity to experience a new culture and be a part of a larger world is something I've always wanted.

There are many exciting things happening in Putnam County sports, and opportunities that I've had in the past couple years, that I wouldn't be able to find anywhere else and wouldn't trade for anything else.

My personal highlight was covering the DePauw women win last season's national championship. I could cover sports for another 60 years and never get a chance to do that again.

There are many, many others that I don't want to go into because I'm afraid to leave something out.

It's meant so much to me to be able to absorb myself in the local sports scene and be embraced by this community I can't adequately put it in words.

Each coach, athlete and administrator has been helpful, welcoming and, in many cases, life-changing.

I can't thank everyone enough for the help they've given me in catching up with the great history of Putnam County sports and learning to put not just names, but actual lives, with the faces of all the local athletes.

The athletic directors have been great in getting me information and helping to collaboratively bring the local teams into the consciousness of the community.

The coaches have been helpful and patient, particularly as I learned to do my job better and adjust my coverage to fit the community and the student-athletes. I hope I've improved from when I took over on the day of the girls' county basketball tournament in late 2012.

Most importantly, the athletes themselves have welcomed me into their competitive world. I don't know how many times I've needed help identifying a swimmer in a photo or searching for scouting reports on other teams to help me improve my stories.

My experience was almost exclusively with writing when I started as sports editor, but I think I've become a totally adequate photographer as I've gained experience and I've felt extremely appreciated with that.

More than anything else, that appreciation is what I'll miss most. Almost every time I go to a game I am thanked for the work I've done or the coverage I've provided.

I couldn't make everyone happy and I've gotten many complaints as well. Sometimes in life the gripes are tougher to ignore than the praise, but it's been easy to do that here.

Putnam County is the friendliest community I've ever lived in, and probably ever will, and I wouldn't trade a second of my time here for anything. Thank you for embracing me and welcoming me.

I look forward to continuing my career, but I'll be sure to check back and keep up on what's happening here. And if anyone ever happens to be in Guam, feel free to look me up.

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  • Thanks Grant for a job "well done".

    -- Posted by Lookout on Sat, Jan 18, 2014, at 11:05 AM
  • We will miss you both in print as well as seeing you at the games. Good luck and keep in touch with Putnam County.

    -- Posted by momma-j on Sun, Jan 19, 2014, at 11:28 AM
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